Source Seminars

No matter where I go....

Good Day!

Granted, it is always easier to Stay Connected when fasting...especially at the tail-end, haha.  I am just about to break my 3 day fast. :-)

I have been reciting the incomparable poem, GOD,GOD, GOD as one of many upon awakening.  I have been considering the lines:

"No matter where I go, the spotlight of my mind

  Ever keeps turning on Thee;                                               

And in the battle din of activity my silent war-cry is ever:                                                                                   

GOD, GOD, GOD!"             

 

I have  been reflecting on how wonderful it would be if they could actually be true for me in my life.  Then, today, suddenly, while at Trader Joe's shopping for this weekend's Part ll, those lines came ringing through!  Tears came to my eyes and my mind has returned to their sweet remembrance several times now.

Along with them, I have been spontaneously repeating the Light of Smiles.  It is so much fun to practice that paean in ones life.  Flashing a joyful smile to someone brings it's own rich reward.  Experiencing a return smile, or the response of surprised JOY when a stranger receives your grin, is just icing on ones inner child's cake!

I believe it just takes perserverance to have these God-filled moments in one's daily, all-too-human life.  Waking up and reciting the various affirmations, etc. immediately brings JOY, JOY, JOY and I  haven't even crawled out of bed yet!

I have continued saying:

"Each morning I offer my body, my mind, and any ability I possess, to be used by Thee, O Infinite Creator, in whatever way Thou dost choose to express Thyself through me.  I know that all work is Thy work, and that no task is too difficult or too menial when offered to Thee in loving service."

I notice that when I am doing something difficult, this passage comes to me to ease the way.  When I am doing something trivial, this prayer makes it special anyway, because I am offering it to God.

I know as we fill up the small spaces of our lives with Divinity, we remember more and more we ARE Divine!  We recall that we are Divine Beings having a human experience and it is our inner world that is real, authentic, and ever-comforting and joyful.

I am finally beginning to understand that this is the real purpose of meditation...this is WHY we must control our thoughts!  We are pulling them away from our engrossment in the material, the outer, the inauthentic, and we are placing ourselves once again in the embrace of Eternal, all-solacing PERFECTION. 

Our souls are Perfect, and always filled with Bliss.  When we learn to fix the spotlight of our minds on THIS, we become filled with the JOY, PEACE, LOVE that has been and will ever be our Divine Birthright!

Loving you always, k

On keeping one's cool...

Good Day! (Sunshine)

We attended the Sunday Bhagavad Gita study and meditation at Temple yesterday, and, as is often the case, a few lines read made an awesome difference!

May I quote (from Verse 32, Chapter11): Italics mine.

"A devotee who tries to conquer his psychological tests and the trials of delusion by the Christ-command of his self-control, as Jesus stilled the storm on the sea, will gradually find within himself a permanent state of heavenly peace.  According to the spiritual law, the devotee who holds on to the aftereffects of meditation and who maintains, against any trial, his inward peace and joy in this life will pass after death to the Eternal Blissful Peace of God."

Wow!  That's some promise!  I tell you it sure has lit a motivational fire under my tush!  Just today some little wave in interaction between Den and I brought this passage to mind and I stated, "I intend to keep my inner peace so I can attain ETERNAL blissful peace when I transition!"  Dennis responded that he did too, haha!

If each of us can consistently inquire of ourselves in ANY situation if it is worth having Eternal blissful peace if we can keep our cool....I think we may just be able to make our Highest Choice! 

Another truism of life I am finally absorbing after 40 years on the path is that ALL life's experiences are explicitly for the purpose of our learning and revealing the Divinity we each are obscuring behind our egos.  We have choices...and sometimes those choices lead to pain.  We may well have had LESS pain if we had made an alternative choice AND we STILL can learn from a painful choice!! 

There are NO bad days or bad decisions or bad experiences.  EACH one is expressly delivered to us so that we may evolve!  I can honestly say that in hindsight there might have been better decisions, etc. AND perhaps we might not have learned as much, or as thoroughly, without the wild ride.  WHO KNOWS?  And really, who cares at this point in the ride?  Best to pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and take inventory of what we got out of the situation THIS time! 

I do know if we don't get the lesson....the scenario will be repeated...again, again, and again.  If we get weary of the exercise, we may wisely choose to learn the material offered, pass the test, and move forward!!

This attitude is greatly assisting me in my work with others and in my personal relationships.  It is definitely shrinking the "worry" factor.  I observe a dear one on the precipice.  They are wavering on making a wise or a less wise choice.  From where I stand it appears that one will involve a lot more future pain than the other.  Still, no worries.  If they choose the painful route they obviously still require the painful route to learn.  Learn they eventually will, when they finally get tired of burning their fingers on maya's stove. 

What is our role as loving friends, parents, counselors?  NOT to say, "I told you so" but rather, "What can you learn from this?  How can I assist?"

When we approach the topsy-turvy inevitable change and duality of life on earth with the perspective that it is unfolding EXACTLY as we require it that we may grow, learn, emerge in our radiant Divinity, so much of the pressure, frustration, impatience, and reaction evaporates!

The world is happening just as it is supposed to!  It is OUR ATTITUDE, PERSPECTIVE, and RESOLVE to stay inwardly content that must be adjusted and fortified. 

INTROSPECTION as a means of self-awareness and self-correction as well as a resolutely positive attitude that we are receiving exactly what we require to GROW UP will be the pruning/gardening tools that turn the Sh*t into the best Soul-Awakening fertilizer available!

Loving you always, k

 

YOU are my JOY!

Good Morning!

I honestly cannot believe I am able to sit in a chair right now, I am so happy.  It feels like I should be floating on a cloud somewhere!  I am wearing my Source Stay Connected t-shirt with Hiranyaloka or Bust pulled over the top merely for celebratory purposes! 

It started coming on later yesterday afternoon and has just kept growing.  GRACE!  I was so wired when I climbed into bed that sleep looked almost impossible.  I know the remedy: snuggling into Dennis!  He had his doubts AND I was in dreamland in moments!  Wonderful dreams of future ways God is choosing to express Himself through me...and us, and any time I got close to waking Consciousness the circle song we played for the Closing Class on Tuesday came resounding "YOU are my JOY, YOU are my JOY, YOU are my JOOOOOOY!"  I was distinctly aware of Den's presence surrounding me as well and couldn't seem to get enough of that LOVE!  This is another wondrous blessing of the celibate couple life....the love grows and grows and grows WAAAAY beyond the physical and the sharing becomes an astral delight!

I arose early to my bath and my affirmations, poems, and prayers.  I sure can recommend ANY of them!  All of them, of course, is over-the-top exultation!  Here is the newest one I am endeavoring to make my own:

"This day shall be the best day of my life.  Today I will start with a new determination to dedicate my devotion forever at the feet of Omnipresence."

I am choosing to drink deep of the well of meditation throughout this wondrous day.  "Teach me to drink the everlasting nectar of joy found in the fountain of meditation."

When you come upon a vein of pure gold this good, how can you possibly choose other than to keep the pickax of meditation digging for more!

Come join me in mining for the true ore that brings everlasting happiness and boundless joy!

Loving you always, k

 

When ego influences soul decisions

Good Morning!

I am observing the effect of the Fraud World on our intentions and highest choices.  If we are fortunate enough to spend some time in high frequency environs (like Inshallah during the training, haha) we ourselves are lifted into a state of higher possibilities and fewer limitations.  We can see the Fraud World more clearly and our desires and goals morph into more soul-driven reflections.

We re-enter the mundane world and our egos attempt to cloud our God-directed, Liberating plans almost immediately.  The ego chirps that they are "too hard", "too dear", "more than we are capable of", ad nauseum.

We must pull the pants down on the ego as fast as we can. Here are a few approaches.  First, pull out the trusty FOUR QUESTIONS for decision-making and weigh your decision/s made in your more refined state against the doubts put upon you by your ego.

Does this lead me closer to God, or away?
Does this raise or lower my frequency?
Does this attach me more to my soul, than to my senses?
Is this the most pleasing to God?

If your decision was one which would lead you closer to Liberation in this life rather than keeping you in the status quo of ego-involvement, it's pretty sure that it will be one worth keeping. 

You can also use affirmations (or parts thereof) with which to frame your mind-set.  From Affirmation for General Healing, "I will wish, I will will, I will work, I will drill, not led by ego but by Thee, but by Thee, but by Thee" or "I will work, exert my will, but charge my will with Thine Own Will, with Thine Own Will!"

This wonderful prayer from Metaphysical Meditations sits on my desk:

O Thou great Lover, Thou art Life, Thou art the Goal, Thou art my Desire.  Deliver me from Thy maya of delusion.  Tempt me with Thy Presence instead.  Beloved God, fill my heart with undying devotion to Thee alone.

Another assist, ask someone's opinion whom you know to be focused on Soul Freedom this lifetime.  What would THEY do?  You can even reflect on the probable action of a Liberated Master.  Yes, What would Jesus or Krishna or Buddha do?

Any or all of these suggestions will strengthen your soul's awareness and power and pull the pants down on the ego.  God knows it's time, haha!

Loving you always, k

Some thoughts as the Journey closes....

Inshallah

Good Sunday Morning!

We are on the last day of the last Source Journey and the Blessings have been constant!  The fullness of the One's Love is almost staggering.  Just now, during the morning meditation in the training room, (and after a glorious meditation at our outside "Chapel in the Pines") it was nearly impossible for me to close.  The bliss was so predominant...the Love...the Joy...God is Good, so very, very GOOD!

Choosing to say that after many, many months of doing the Peace and Harmony Prayer consistently, devotedly, at least 5 times daily, a giant shift occurred.  I choose to direct you to the blog (actually there have been several) yet the most recent blog outlining this practice is the post for June 12, 2011.  I wholeheartedly recommend this practice NOW if there is anyone in your life with whom you are choosing greater Peace and Harmony (and who doesn't have someone like that?)

We had a repeater at this Journey and she spoke of falling back to sleep, and how wondrous it was to be back in the all-solacing embrace of the ONE.  I encourage any of you who may have strayed off the path of daily communion with the One (or however you deem to name It) to get back in the saddle of Divine Love NOW.  Twice daily meditation will again Awaken you to the Truth of your own Perfection and of your TRUE Life Purpose of reclaiming your Divine Birthright of unending Joy, Love, and Peace as a child of the Divine.

Another profound take-away from this training, I believe for each of us here, is the total subscription to the fact that EACH thing that happens to us is to assist back Home.  If we hold each experience, relationship encounter, event in that Light it changes EVERYTHING.  As our youngest participant said this training, the glass isn't half-empty, or even half-full, it is always FULL. 

We must continually inquire, "What is the lesson in this experience for me that will further my Awakening, my development, my understanding so that I may advance closer to the shores of Divine Fulfillment."

With that attitude and perspective there will be no more anger, resentment, doubt or bitterness at what life may serve up.  There will be positive acceptance, cheerfulness, and optimism.  We must REMEMBER God ALWAYS has our backs...and He/She/the ONE is utilizing these life "Lessons" and experiences to more quickly bring us back to our true HOME!  That is why we incarnated...and that is what will serve to bring us to the end of compulsory incarnation on earth.

It is with great Joy in my heart that I wish each of you a most Connected, appreciative, Sunday....and the fact that I will have the wondrous gift of hugging some of you today at the Source Journey Graduation at Inshallah is icing on the cake!

To our VICTORY IN THE LIGHT!!!

Loving you always, k

Some thoughts before the Training....

Inshallah

Good Evening!

I awoke at Inshallah at 7:30AM in great joy.  We had retired about 2:30AM so I was pretty surprised about that.  I figured it was because

1. We are at blessed Inshallah

2. We are about to embark on our final (according to Den and i at least) Source Journey Training and God and the Great Ones LIKE IT!  They are stoked that some more souls are going to Wake Up and REMEMBER!

I did my complete Awakening ritual, hopped out of bed to do EE's and Maha Mudra and headed for the training room to meditate. An hour and a half flew by. I then had the most delightful bath and prepared to greet our Staff who would be arriving shortly.

Our Staff is really special this time.  Each of them has been Senior Staff in the past and our Senior Staff is incomparable.  Such a group!  I don't remember ever having such a mellow yet deep Staff meeting as we had today.  I went over the participants, reiterating how PERFECT they are for this particular training. 

The whole sense here is mellow and solid.  Our Senior Staff said it was because we all know what to do...and what we are doing.  That may be it. 

Right now I just feel so grateful to be able to do this work...the work of allowing the Great Ones to use me and the others to draw each dear soul Homeward.  Truly, there is nothing more important, more satisfying, then to be a conduit for Them to awaken my sleeping brothers and sisters.

Please keep us in your prayers this week.  If there is any way you can get to the Graduation here at Inshallah at 2PM Sunday, or the Closing Class in Leucadia on Tuesday (meditation at 6:20, Class at 7:30) please do!!

It's been a long and lovely winding road...and it has been so special to travel it with so many of you. 

I am smiling...just thinking of you.  Thank you!

Loving you always, k

Celebrating a Great One's Birth

Birthday of Yogananda!

Good Evening!

On the third and final day of my fast last eve, I awoke at midnight, sleep eluding me.  I did all my Awakening ritual and eventually came to a place of great Peace.  Not sleep, mind you, yet the next best thing, methinks.

I crawled out of bed at 2:30 as I was to be meeting our valiant little group for a 6 hour meditation in our Dome this morning at 3:30AM anyway. I took care of a few chores related to the Source Journey Training which begins this coming Monday.

We gathered poolside for Energization and then the 6 Rites and a smattering of yoga postures that would keep us steady and hopefully free of body awareness during the long sit.

A bit of chanting on harmonium and we plunged into the first half of our meditation.  I did nod a bit, we each did, yet overall it was pretty darn easy.  With a rousing set of Govinda Jai Jai we fully awakened ourselves and took on the final 3 hours.

I choose to encourage all to such a practice on the day of commemoration of their own Blessed Great Ones.  I could feel the Master's Blessings showering upon us then....and continuing on throughout the day.

Just now I had a short and sweet 20 minute nap so I would be Awake and Ready for the wondrous service out in Escondido this evening.  Please trust me when I share that there is no better way to prepare for such a fantastic eve than attending a six hour meditation earlier the same day.  It increases the magnetism and depth of the event a hundredfold!

Immediately, I thought of the blog, and I bounded out of bed to the computer.

Sharing with  you dear ones on this Holy And Special Day makes it all so much more rich and fine.  Let us each do the necessary to be able to Light the Match of Smiles everywhere we go...bringing cheer and good will to hearts thirsty for Divine Love.  Goodness knows the world is in requirement of it!

Loving you always, k

A panoply of things...

Good Morning!

I truly have desired to blog and for one reason or another the time slipped by and blogs never got written.  Today I am so grateful because while I was up at Inshallah for two weeks over the Christmas Holi-days, Den got himself into an amazing new morning sadhana discipline.  He is awakening much earlier and getting in some impressive meditation time...and I now can piggy-back on his jetstream!!  THIS is why I keep encouraging you to choose a spiritually like-minded life companion!!  When you require that leg-up, they will be able to provide it!!

I have (in the past now) been experiencing resistance to meditation.  I have no idea where that came from or why, really.  I just know that my meditations, although I always did them, were getting shorter and shorter!  A dear friend of mine, also on the path for decades, just wrote saying the same thing.  

One remedy that works is to just start meditating before even leaving the bed,  sitting up of course.  Granted this is not as right on as sitting in one's meditation chair in one's meditation space...but it sure beats down the resistance that seems to grow when the world begins to predominate.

I so enjoy my morning Awakening ritual...yet that also got me started pretty late.  So, I began meditating first and then saying all the affirmations, etc. while I was taking my bath.  Sweet.

Today, God really took care of me as I woke up early enough to do all of my prayers et al, the whole banana, before the alarm went off.  Admittedly, that's how I like it best.  I am on the 2nd day of my 3 day monthly fast and I seem to have more energy and require less sleep when fasting.  Meditation is always better too.

I woke up in the Current, often happens when fasting, and I was aware that It kept going strong all through the Awakening routing...and it made the affirmations many times more powerful.  What was interesting, and really sweet, was how strong It felt when I mentally sang my Good Morning to God song from the Light the Lamp CD.  Same thing when I sang the song to Sri Yukteswar that came through during the last Darkness.  Somehow, soulful paens that manifest through one's own Consciousness seem to have the strongest pull on the Divine Mind, and the Divine Connection.  Shows that the Divine Romance with which each of us is engaged is truly personal, and intimate.

Another powerful changer was the six hour meditation on New Year's Eve at Inshallah.  Wow!  Simply the best New Year's Eve med EVER!  The first time I can recall feeling like I could go another hour or two...and it was over.  The inundation of Connection, of the ONE'S AMAZING GRACE, put the kabosh on my amnesia...I was fully back on the meditation band wagon.

The most prominent thing I noticed (and still experience) is the phenomenal increase in my intuition.  I just KNEW where to find a misplaced item, or just happened to be in the perfect place at the perfect time repeatedly!  Life just flows so much SMOOTHER when one is tuned in...and meditation is the tuning dial!

We are having another 6 hour meditation here on the morning of Yogananda's birthday (this Thursday) and I can't wait.  Our final Source Journey starts next Monday and we are going up to Inshallah this weekend.  I feel this Holy Week is the best preparation I can get.

Now you know why I am so thrilled at Den's new sadhana routine.  Just when I required that extra shot of motivation, my Divine Life Companion leads the charge!

God is Good!

Loving you always, k

Upon Awakening

Good Morning!

I have been choosing to write this blog for weeks and finally today, since we are going to the All-Day Christmas Meditation, I can do so without cutting into my morning meditation time.  Hurrah!  Each day I thought I was to write this I felt I really should make sure to get this Morning Awakening program entirely done  to be in congruence with my writing.  That was wonderful motivation to really set the habit!

I had actually written about this in my last Darkness and pages and pages of blogs will never "see the light" as my pen had run out of ink unbeknownst to me.  This practice has become concretized enough that I don't require that blog to express it.

One caveat: If this routine appeals, take what is possible to accomplish without compromising the time required to meditate in the morning!  I enjoy doing this so much that such can be challenging for me.

Here we go!

Upon Awakening, if you are lucky enough to be in the Current, endeavor to keep that going as long as possible.  The thoughts/affirmations/prayers you will expound fit beautifully into the matrix of the Current!

Paramahansaji has suggested we utter "I and my Father are ONE" (I say "I and my One are ONE") just as we are waking or going to sleep.  Repeat this as long as required to really get the sense of it throughout your being.

I then move to "Thou art my Father, Thou hast no karma, I am Thy child, I have no karma."  Again, repeat this as much as required.

Now or later, I say "Good Morning, I love You!" to my God as the ONE, and Mother, Father, Friend, and Beloved.  I do the same for each of my 6 Gurus, and my twelve Saints and Sages from 4 different world religious traditions. Bases covered, haha!  I just can't help it...each of Them embodies such love, giving, depth, and wisdom!

I also do my first rendition of the Peace and Harmony Prayer for the two for whom I have been doing so daily for months.  I also do the first of my Affirmation for Soul-mate and dear ones.  I will repeat both of these at least another four times during the day.  I have written of this before and do strongly recommend this practice to you!!  It not only can be considered part of the daily service to others so adamantly encouraged by Paramahansaji and other Great Ones, it will also incur rich rewards for yourself as well!

From there I go to whichever of my repertory of prayers and affirmations appeals.  Admittedly, I have the commitment and intention to do ALL of them.  I just can't seem to help myself, haha.  And I am still adding....there are just so many beautiful ones from which to choose.  Just last night before bed I was reading some gems from Metaphysical Meditations to Dennis which I intend to make my own.  I have now claimed this one:

"Each morning I offer my body, my mind, and any ability I possess, to be used by Thee, O Infinite Creator,  in whatever way Thou dost choose to express Thyself through me.  I know that all work is Thy work, and that no task is too difficult or too menial when offered to Thee in loving service."

Isn't that just SPECTACULAR?!!

Most of the recitations mentioned here can be found in Scientific Healing Affirmations, the aforementioned Metaphysical Meditations (MM) and the longer-version Samadhi poem is from the original (maroon-covered) Whispers from Eternity.

I often repeat the poem Samadhi, or The Affirmation for General Healing, very soon in my series.  The Affirmations for Material Success, Psychological Success, and Spiritual Success are stated as well as each of the main Affirmations by Power of Thought, Will, and Freedom.

I always say the lovely, joyous The Light of Smiles from MM. If I could embody one way of living, what is encapsulated in that wonderful paen would be my choice!

Core IV recently spent a Renewal Weekend together and members concentrated on adding Samadhi or Affirmation for General Healing to memory.  Since I already had those in my arsenal I made the powerful poem GOD, GOD, GOD my own and now always recite it.  Free copies of this poem are available in SRF book stores and I am sure can be requested from Mother Center (323 225 2471).

I also use a couple of shorties that are especially meaningful:

"As I radiate love and good will to others, I open the channel for God's Love to come to me.  Divine Love is the magnet that draws to me all good."

and

"I am submerged (or bathed) in Eternal Light. It permeates every particle of my being.  I am living in that Light.  Divine Spirit fills me within and without."

I hope I have remembered all the recitations I do here.   I also then use Paramahansaji's technique of awakening the muscles.  I tense my whole body three times, holding the tension for 3 seconds.  I tense individual body parts moving from feet up to neck, and then repeat as I hold the tension as I consecutively tense from feet to head again, relaxing this tension as I move back down the body.  These can be found in the Energization (or Recharging) Exercises taught in the SRF Lessons.

Finally I outpicture my Ideal Day.  This wonderful practice reminds of simple little things I may easily forget and "greases" the wheels of my day to flow with more ease and grace in the way I intend it to manifest. It is of particular assistance to visualize the emotional/spiritual states and perspectives one is choosing to manifest while doing certain tasks or encountering various people or situations.

When arisng after such a Morning Routine, my mind has been fed with the most pristine, spiritual, wonderful thoughts and I am absolutely grounded in what really matters! I have begun my service to others and Re-Connected with Love to the Great Ones and Saints I treasure most in my life. My body has been prepared and energized in a calm manner and my future looks bright and beckoning...as I have outpictured it!!

My heart's desire is that you will choose from this whatever resonates and begin or enhance your own wondrous Morning Routine!  This may require some memory work AND it will be so very well worth it, haha!

Loving you always, k

The Greatest Gift

Good Sunday Evening,

I am just in from the Sunday Eve meditation at Temple, and asking what is my Highest Choice, I was directed to the blog.  I am still quite withdrawn and in that Blessed Peace that passeth all understanding.

I just returned from Inshallah yesterday having been there alone since family left last Sunday after Thanksgiving festivities.  Daily Mass, alone time, three days of fasting on water and tea, the Idyllwild Meditation Group had all fed me well.  I didn't really choose to return to city life and all that that entailed.

Yesterday morning I sped down from the mountains to catch the last part of the morning Temple med and weekly serving..which I then found out was cancelled.  Den and I gathered with our local Core IV group after and the deep and loving hugs reminded me how surely God is manifested in the human heart.

Somehow we were able to go to a worldly Christmas party, just to open the possibility of a very dear young lady attending probably the last Source Journey ever in January.  She had been my student when she was two years old and on for a few years...and my heart told me it would be good for her to attend.  She agreed...we will see if she follows through.

We whisked down to the Temple med last eve.  Up early this morning we went down again to meditate straight through into the Sunday service.  We got over to the hermitage to Connect with Paramahansaji at His sweet bedroom there....and I felt His Blessedness pouring over me.  The hermitage was decorated for Christ-Mass and you could feel the sacredness of the nuns' work.

Tonight, however, was the truest solace of all.  The two hour meditation, led by a dear old friend and consumate yogi, was the prescription I required to really feel Christ in my heart and being....and the deep, all desire quenching silence that only God communion provides.  THIS is the gift of this HOLY SEASON.  DON'T MISS IT!

We rush around with all the duties of the social aspects of the Holiday Season and miss the true gifts Christ and the Great Ones are endeavoring to bestow during the HOLI-DAYS.

I know this is what the ONE was choosing me to convey to you this evening.  Do the necessary...group meditation, retreat, alone-time, daily Mass or whatever, to unwrap the best Christmas present of all....God, Christ, Gurus HOLY PRESENCE right within you, all around you, EVERYWHERE!

Loving you always and always, k

 

 

Life Companion Affirmation

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

This blog will address unmarried and married folk who can be benefited by this affirmation.  So read on!!

One enthusiastic blog reader, dear friend, and Source Grad recently shared with me that he has been doing this affirmation so repeatedly that it is popping up all over the place: when he prays before eating, before EE practice, and so forth.  Suffice it to say, he is getting it done well over the five times daily minimum recommended.  It has really worked in his life as well: sparing him from a matrimonial wrong turn and magnetizing a spiritually supportive life partner who shares his spiritual path Home.  Why is he still repeating it, you might well ask.  Because his partnership is quite new and he chooses to be sure it is in alignment with his long-term Highest Good.

Yogananda, who created this affirmation, has said that if it is used repeatedly and correctly over a six month period, circumstances will be created that will reveal the character traits of the proposed life-mate (both good and bad) that one would choose to know before making a lifetime commitment.  He also said affirmation use will (usually) dissolve an incorrect prospective choice in relationship within 6 months (again, if done exactly as instructed.)  I did use this affirmation during my courtship with Dennis and as the years went along it was a strong signal that we were meant to be together.

I know people at this writing who tell me they are inconsistent in their application of this valuable tool.  To me this is Russian Roulette with one of the most important decisions one ever may have to make!  It could actually determine the outcome, success or failure, of the most important goal in life, Soul Liberation!!

Because you may be wasting time with the incorrect choice, your perfect mate may slip right through the portal of time designated for your finding one another!  This is not a long affirmation. It would be easy to do before retiring, upon awakening, along with your Prayer for food, and at your meditation or exercise periods.  If you incorporate your affirmation into these everyday activities, the sufficient number of repetitions can be easily attained.

If you are currently in relationship with someone who shares your spiritual path (ideal, methinks) do request that they do it also.  If they are reluctant to meet this simple request, that also gives you significant information about how they may show up once married!

The affirmation:

Heavenly Father, Bless me that I may choose my life companion according to Thy Law of Perfect Soul Union.  I add "and Harmony" on the end as it is resonant with my goal.

For those of us already married, I have modified the affirmation to fit that circumstance: Heavenly Father, Bless me that I may live with my life companion (I also add the names of my immediate family and closest friend here, and my Guruji) according to Thy Divine Laws of Perfect Soul Union and Harmony".

I have been saying this in my morning prayers for years.  If you are choosing to increase matrimonial or famial harmony or preserve the felicity you are experiencing, I recommend you begin using it as well.

During Darkness it became apparent that I, too, should be repeating the affirmation five times daily as well.  I am now repeating it each time I do the Peace and Harmony Prayer which also has a minimum five times daily requirement, in addition to retention of it in my morning prayers.

By the way, the Peace and Harmony Prayer is SUCH a great addition to ones life...most everyone has someone with whom they would enjoy more harmony!  I have been doing this since May and have rarely missed the five times...if I have, or even suspect I have, I make up the needed repetitions the following day.  I am ready to do this for the remainder of my life, if necessary!

Those of you seeking the Ideal life partner, those of you who are in relationship or married, have been informed of an incomparable tool to attract and maintain harmonious relationship with your perfect Soul Companion on the Journey HOME! USE IT!

More Adventures with the Spiritual Eye

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

Since Paramahansaji says that maintaining ones Consciousness in the Spiritual Eye is the fastest way to reach Liberation, I am voting to write another post on this topic.

I have been endeavoring to keep my attention at the Eye for decades with little success at all.  I counted myself fortunate if I was able to keep it there most of the time during my Energization Exercises.  I can honestly say that I have had difficulty with consistent, proper, positioning of my eyes (upward) even during meditation.  No doubt this lack has taken its toll with sleepiness, mind-wandering, overall restlessness.  Granted, it is never easy to develop a new habit, and it is like that here in the Darkness as well.  There are so many less distractions here yet I have never made it a conscious priority to inculcate this habit.  THIS IS THE TIME!

Upon departing my bunk, I resolved to do my best to REMEMBER, TODAY!  After a couple of failures I began mentally saying, as I went through my morning ablutions, "I am keeping my Consciousness at the Spiritual Eye while I am brushing my teeth.  I offer my teeth-brushing to God and Guru."  "I am staying at the Spiritual Eye while I floss my teeth.  I offer my flossing to God and Guru." And on and on. 

I was getting a double benefit; I was staying Connected to my Eye and Higher-Soul Consciousness and by offering up my actions, I was accruing no karma.  Nothing I was doing was attaching to "I" or ego-consciousness.  You may say, "How much karma can be involved with teeth-brushing???" haha.  It's the HABIT I am building.  There are sundry ways our egos DO get involved...even in the little things.  Consider pride, frustration, disappointment because of being attached to a certain result or outcome.

When my shower cap fell on the floor, I had to locate it, pick it up, in the Dark.  There was no little mental muttering about wishing that hadn't happened or the difficulty in having to deal with it.  Dark or Light, little stuff like that happens continuously...and are we at Peace with it?

When Connected at the Eye, there is only THIS moment and the Soul is observing all without attachment or judgment of oneself or others!  The result is living a peaceful, mellow life with no stress!!

Because I had started this pattern, it was a snap to keep at the Eye during EE's and maha mudra.  Sitting to meditate, my Consciousness was already where it needed to be.  And WOW, what a difference it made in my meditation.  I went deep fast, and I stayed there.

When I was finished, after a long and great meditation, I contemplated holding my practice while preparing my first meal of the day...lunch.  I wasn't perfect but I kept at it.  I noticed an immediate slip when I began eating.  This won't surprise if you have been reading these blogs very long, haha.  What I DID notice was that the food and eating experience was actually more pleasant when maintaining the perspective of the observant Soul.  Instead of the ego dashing to finish, gobble gobble, I noticed several enjoyable nuances of taste I would have missed.  Eating also took longer, so the food was actually around longer to enjoy ;-).

I wasn't tense as I cleaned up the "kitchen", as I usually am in the Dark, and I didn't feel as wiped-out with the constant vigilance required. (If you absentmindedly put something somewhere you may not be able to find it again...or make a big mess when you knock it over accidentally.)  One moves slower, calmer, when in the Eye.  Accidents that can have major consequences don't happen.  Actually, many of these positive effects of keeping ones Consciousness uplifted would also play out in regular, lighted, existence.

I like how my mind is not in Future or Past.  It is right here enjoying the gift of the Present.  What I am beginning to feel is that the point between the eyebrows is "HOME": comfortable, safe, and joyous.  As I write this I feel a soft smile playing on my lips...not the intense, concentrated jaw-hold of "getting things done".

I pause and can hear AUM softly humming in the background.  Perhaps if I could stay out of my ego, It would always be available to me.  I do believe developing this practice will take very firm commitment and unceasing patience.  Yet, I can tell you, it is a very, very pleasant way to live your life. I can substitute so many adjectives for pleasant-effective, successful, peaceful, beneficial, and VICTORIOUS (best of all).

The Importance of the Spiritual Eye

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

Most of you already know of the Spiritual Eye, aka Third Eye, the point between the eyebrows.  In India it is known as the kutastha chaitanya, Christ Consciousness center, literally, that Consciousness which remains unchanged.

One of my tenets or intentions for this time in Darkness is to keep the eyes uplifted to this Astral Eye as much as possible.  Yogananda has said that this practice is the absolute fastest way to God-Realization.  When mixing with people during worldly activities one doesn't actually have to uplift eyes to perform this practice.  We must keep our CONSCIOUSNESS S centered there.  Of course, this is easier to do if one is able to uplift the eyes as well.

In each of Yogananda's main meditation techniques, this practice is a primary component.  Why is uplifting the eyes to the point between the eyebrows so essential?  It is because it, and it's dual partner the medulla oblongata (found at the indention at the base of the skull/top of the spine,) are the gateway to the spiritual dimensions.  In fact, the spiritual eye, when seen, is actually the reflection of the powerful energy source/telescoping tunnel shining at the medulla. 

When our attention is focused at the Eye, we are anchored in the spiritual dimension, the Kingdom of our Soul and Spirit.  We have severely compromised ties to world and ego, and the Soul is in charge.  It is difficult, if not impossible, to think ego-based thoughts or perform selfish actions if one is truly anchored in this safe harbor of the Soul.  This 'Seat of the Soul'  is where we must learn to retreat, seeking sanctuary and amnesty from the carping ravings and incessant demands of worldly desire and sense-based snares.

However, if our habit is strong in looking outward to the vapid mirage of materiality, it can be difficult, indeed, to reign in the five sense stallions, calm the scorpion-mind of wild and erratic thoughts, and bring our Consciousness back to Home's Beacon once more.

Today during meditation I noticed the only real necessity for Hong Sau was to stay in the Spiritual Eye.  When doing so, both thought and breath became still and the heart very quiet as well.  Practice of Aum technique was quite similar.  For me, it is more difficult with Kriya because the technique requires some thought and observation/visualization to perform.  Still, the more the eyes were anchored in upliftment at the Eye, the better! 

I am writing this because you may have forgotten this essential element of your techniques, and hence have been missing the major impact this practice has on their efficacy.  If you can just STAY at the Eye you will not be plagued by thoughts and mental wanderings during meditation!!  Your posture will also more easily remain erect and aligned.  When things are 'in order' above, they seem to be 'in order' below as well!

Beyond meditation periods, fixing one's Consciousness at the Eye can reap generous rewards, not withstanding the greatest prize of all, GOD-REALIZATION.  One cannot perform wrong actions which will induce pain to oneself or others, at that moment OR in future, if one is resting in the domain of Spirit!  There will be no gossiping, profanity, wrong sense-indulgence or thought if  one is in this Holy Haven.  We are in direct Connection with Source and with our Guru.  Their Guidance, Direction, and Protection can flow easily and instantly into our Consciousness!

It is even suggested both partners remain in the Spiritual Eye when endeavoring to conceive a child.  Yogananda has said this greatly increases the chances of attracting a Soul with deep spiritual inclination.  We did this when our daughter was conceived and amid a raft of spiritual positives, she is also the youngest member of our Core IV...a group committed to assisting oneself and one another to full Liberation in this lifetime.  Keeping one's attention at the Eye during conception has definite spiritual ramifications!

Life can be Ease and Grace if we create the Divine habit of keeping our attention at the Spiritual Eye.  My heartiest wish for you and me is that we employ strong and consistent effort to developing this habit NOW!

Likes and Dislikes

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

When I began Darkness this time I set up some intentions and ground rules.  One of these was recognizing and avoiding likes and dislikes.  Why?  Because true non-attachment, accepting whatever "is" with an even mind, brings true contentment.  If one has no "druthers" what's not to like?  Pretty consistently I have been catching myself as I respond with a desire for something to be other than it is.  I just mentally label it "likes and dislikes" and move on.  This has been incredibly freeing.  It doesn't mean I always flow easily with it (remember the salad?) yet at least it is clear I am the one who is creating the experience of life as less than perfect!

When I was fasting I broke my favorite juice-drinking glass.  I enjoyed that glass because my own self-created value declared drinking from it was a celebration of the of act of drinking regardless of what was in it.  I was really disappointed when I broke it shaking out excess wash-water too close to the counter-top.  It's pitch black here, remember.  I said "likes and dislikes" and considered the mug that would be it's replacement.  "Maybe this will work out O.K." I thought.

When it came time to use the mug it served me substantially better as a Darkness drinking vessel.  It was much easier to accurately pour into and it made the juice seem more abundant as well.  Sometimes (more often than we expect, I proprose) our likes and dislikes can really be off-base, if not downright destructive.  The self-sabotaging relationship choices of several folks I know come quickly to mind.

I am thinking that an honest assessment of our habitual likes and dislikes and how these are impacting our chance for true happiness could be very wise.  Indeed, Darkness doesn't lie.  May what it contributes to the growth of my life flow into yours as well!

 

Food Part Two

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

I was analyzing my likes and dislikes (more on that another blog) and began with food, which is a big area of contention for me.  Sadly, I realized nearly all of my favorite foods are unhealthy...at least the options from their menus I choose and enjoy.  My favorite cuisines are Italian, Mexican, and Indian.  Shucks!  There are raw foods I do like and Peace Pies Raw Food Restaurant in Leucadia can be recommended as well as Haggo's Organic Tacos, also in Leucadia, which actually is NOT typical Mexican, using all locally grown organic ingredients and much less cheese, if any.

Looking deeper, I realize that much of my food focus has zero to do either with appetite or hunger.  Most of my pull towards food is totally EMOTIONAL.   The idea to eat pops right up when my ego chooses soothing because it has chosen to believe it's current external experience is: FRUSTRATING, BORING, TAXING, or preferably, TO BE AVOIDED.

Food offers a delectable pause before having to face an unappealing present-time reality again, and presumably having to deal with or do something about it.

Granted, things are much less complicated here in the Dark, mostly because I only have ONE ego to deal with, my own!  Still, the "Let's eat" thought comes in and I am valiantly endeavoring to put a new rule into practice: ONLY EAT WHEN I AM HUNGRY!! 

By the way, you may wonder what could be stressful in Darkness.  Much...as all has to be accomplished without sight.  Also, there are no "diversions" that worldly life offers.  The closest thing would be listening to the wondrous sounds of my Himalayan bowls.  They are AWESOME.  Still, in the Dark, it's largely a 2-part menu: sadhana or body-care.  This is exactly what makes the Dark stellar for spiritual and psychological growth and discovery.  So I am living the No Hunger, No eating prescription. I have one small caveat...a tiny bite of cheese at meal-end for "dessert".  Paramahansaji always recommends balance, you know :-).

I am also gearing up to having few meals weekly of the Italian-Mexican-Indian trio.  I will definitely require Den's support on that and he actually seems more ready than I.  Sometimes social obligations must predominate and certainly Holiday Celebrations have their special agenda.  I can roll with that...balance remember ;-).

Food Part One

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

I have been waiting all "day" (who knows?) to be hungry again after breaking my 3 day fast.  This "morning" I had brown rice cereal with banana and found it incredibly filling.  In the Dark everything seems much larger than it actually is.  I'm not sure why.  I always lose weight here as I only eat two meals daily and they seem large...but after I get out of the Dark I notice portions I thought were large just are not.

In the Light I break fasts with foods I enjoy...regardless of how at odds these foods may be as fast-breakers.  This habit has very rarely caused any digestive problems.  Apparently attitude is everything, haha.

I am considering having salad now and the fact that it will be cold is not very appetizing.  My pyche is telling me, "I'd rather pass".  Still, if we all ate what was available rather than what was desired, do you realize how much less obesity there would be?  If we were able to re-train our palates and only craved what was good for us, we still would be thin because those wholesome foods jsut don't make anyone fat!

The Dark definitely allows me to examine my relationship with food.  Doing so, I desire to change it.  Because of both the ample spiritual sustenance available and the time and ability for excellent self-care (daily hatha yoga, 6 rites, bodyworking tools, sound healing, good sleep and good nutrition, and even a delightful daily bath time) the desire for unhealthy external soothing definitely subsides.  Instead of satisfying addictions (food, sex, excitement, retail therapy and endless outer pursuits) perhaps it's past time for us to pause and consider what about our lives leaves us so empty that we feel compelled to fill them with stuff, activity, sense satiation.

I know I can fix this.  It requires pushing the pause button and taking honest inventory of how I am living my life.  It IS my life, after all, I do get to choose how I spend it!  If I am needing anything "out there" I am not taking care of myself in both large and small ways.

Living so simply here, yet so happily, I know I can create happiness and peace "out there" as well.  I must put my spiritual needs first and my healthy self-care second.  I will be totally capable of whatever my karma has in store for me, or my Guru has arranged for my continued upward growth.  Perhaps that salad has a place in my near future.  I'm thinking about it, haha.

P.S. The salad was FANTASTIC.  Who would've thought?? Of coruse, it was created under Sri Yukteswar's fabulous direction and He does everything GREAT.  It was so wholesome too!  Taste buds can be trained apparently, haha.

Entrainment into the Guru's vibration

Inshallah

Darkness October 2011

One thing I love about the Dark, it puts you face-to-face with yourself, both big and little AND one process is not more important than the other. Granted, experiencing the Larger Self is a lot more enjoyable...who wouldn't prefer ecstatic states of Consciousness if given the choice?  Yet the little self is the rascal who prevents us from enjoying these blissful realms as often as we might like.  The Dark strips away those fantasies of who we think we are...or at least pretend to be.  There is no foolin' anyone in the Dark.  We get to see the REAL, usually RAW, deal!

So that means, for me at least, the Dark can include sizable "burning": tears, hand-wringing, unavoidable confrontation with one's faults and failures.  This is most especially the case if it's been a while since doing the Dark..as it was this time.  I had "sizable" accumulated baggage to purge.  One of the most heart-wrenching aspects is realizing how I again fell back to sleep and forgot what's REALLY important.  That being, in a nutshell, GOD ALONE.

The stupidity of my sidetracks and the way my life seems to take on so many meaningless distractions is appalling.  I guess some of it could be viewed as humorous, but I would rather not laugh myself into yet another un-Self-realized embodiment.

Yes, the Dark can be both Agony and Ecstasy, yet even the Agony feels worthwhile and soul-cleansing.  Life is so simple here.  All the choices are clear and none are negative.  There is no desire to live in that crazy world out there with all it's mind-numbing, soul-stultifying, body-deteriorating tinsel and trash.  That is precisely why Himalayan yogis, locked away in their caves, choose to dream GOD instead.

As I was confronted with the ugliness of a damaged and multi-flawed ego, and the despair of not having changed as I had wished, I reflected on the years I had been praying for assistance with this difficult demolition.  I know God and Gurus love me.  They have undoubtedly heard my prayers and have surely lovingly responded.  WHAT'S THE PROBLEM???

Suddenly I realized that I had not been receptive to Their aid for plain lack of awareness or perhaps stupidity or stubbornness.  The assistance being provided was not getting through!     

The light bulb flashed on!!  I fervently prayed for receptivity to Their offerings.  Not long later, during meditation, I received direct intervention.  When something entrains to, or follows along with, another thing, it becomes like it.  The stronger vibration brings the lesser vibration up to it's higher level and experience.

My ego-construct is so vast, so unwieldy, no matter how hard I have tried, I have not been able to do the necessary to demolish it.

I was told to ABSORB myself, entrain to, the vibration of my Guru, for His infinitely more powerful vibration could, indeed, put my ego in it's proper servant-to-my-soul place.  By focusing wholeheartedly on my Guru, my vibration will entrain into His...and His amazing wisdom and love will be present to deal with whatever the issue is at hand. 

I have been doing this practice in the Dark and the results have been profound.  It is like having a Master living within you performing all actions moment-by-moment.  May this focus become second nature here in the Dark so I may bring it back with me into the crash and bang of the material world.  For decades I have stumbled along.  I now have the opportunity to turn my life over to Someone who really knows what They are doing.  I am endeavoring to keep His image at my Spiritual Eye and keep my attention at the Eye as much as possible, absorbed in His Holy Vibration.

Darkness begins

Good Sunday Morning!

I have been choosing to start publishing the Darkness blogs and the world has kept me pretty engaged.  That's just the world, isn't it?  So here we go...starting from the very beginning:  I do not intend to go into such detail regarding spiritual experiences ongoing...yet I am choosing to set the stage regarding just what Darkness can do.

Inshallah

I am beginning Darkness with a three day fast.  I drunk my fasting drink before my first meditation of Darkness following the long sleep with which Darkness begins.  That sleep is always special as we live in a very sleep-deprived society.  Being able to just sleep, and sleep as long as one desires without any consideration of time and "to-do's", is a great luxury indeed.

Imbibing thus, I felt sluggish and tapped out.  It would have been wiser to drink after meditation.  I still soldiered on with Hong Sau and at some point became aware that I was quite interiorized.  When I began the AUM technique I was immediately inundated with It's resounding tone and there were nuances within It that I don't remember hearing before.  I focused on myself being entrained into It's vibration and pulled deeper and deeper within.  I knew the Sacred Sound was permeating me and making subtle changes within my being.  It was transforming my vibration into something far better, far lighter.

I became quite devotional as I realized this Holy AUM was emanating directly from Source...and my ONE was drawing me back into Itself.  There was a sheet of White Light which AUM seemed to be manifesting as well.  All in all it was a singular experience, incredibly powerful and predominant.  Only other AUM experiences in prior Darknesses could approach It's magnificence.

I thought to myself, "This Darkness is certainly starting out with a Bang!"

Happy to be back

Good Sunday Morning!

I wrote lotsa blogs at Inshallah this Darkness and those will be fun getting out.  This Morning I just feel like checking in and telling you how much I love you!  It was a GREAT Darkness.  Right from the get-go!  Not that it didn't have it's "interesting" moments...that's just how life IS on the planet...even in the Dark, haha!

One of the coolest things was that I COMPLETELY forgot TIME.  Did it on purpose and sure glad I did too!  In spades, I guess, because when Den called me on Friday to say he was already in Temecula on his way to retrieve me, I actually thought it was around the preceding MONDAY!!  I was just STUNNED. Had I  been living 30 hour days or what?  When I heard the phone ringing I thought he was going to tell me something about a forest fire or something.  A couple hours earlier I had heard "outside" noise for pretty much the first time all Darkness.  ( I had heard a couple of truck-sounds earlier, but that was it.)

I heard helicopters flying around, over, and all about the sky directly over Inshallah.  On and on....  It was when I was meditating, so I was pretty withdrawn.  Still....why copters?  Fire was really the only thing I could come up with.  I wasn't TOO alarmed.  I just hoped Den was keeping on top of "Idyllwild news" and would tell somebody I was up there if it was going to get hot!  If not, well....I thought I could grab a big picture of Sri Yukteswar, sit in my meditation chair and go out in flames...Obviously the world didn't exactly have me in the palm of it's hand at that moment.

It's great to be back AND it sure was good to be there.  Yesterday was such a sublime re-entry.  We didn't get to bed til nearly 2AM Friday so just got down to Temple for our weekly service ( I LOVE cleaning my two bathrooms!), meet-up with Core IV locals, and a sweet lunch together.

THEN, we had our yearly Kriyaban Ceremony.  Tell me, is that perfect timing, or what?  Brother Bhumananda was at the top of his game and the Masters were permeating each of us with beaucoup blessings. Our Core IV row rocked....and we floated out of there to a sweet family dinner.

We then went to a small Kirtana concert in Encinitas...sitting right at her feet.  WOW.  That woman may be the best spiritual troubadour on the planet right now!!  We went because we use her music in our Source trainings...yet in person she is WAAAAY more impactful than even her wonderful recorded music.

After the first set her accompaniest passed around a box of Kleenex because he heard Den and I sniffling in the front row...her songs moving us to tears of Joy and God!!

I sat there at my spiritual eye absolutely enveloped in the embrace of my beloved Guru.  He was really happy I had brought Him along, haha.  He may have missed an incredible spiritual sound-feast if we weren't connected at the Eye!

Loving you SO MUCH! k

Darkness/Unselfishness

Good Morning,

This time I am not forgetting to "sign off" for a while.  We are having a IV event at Inshallah this weekend and then I am going into the Dark for a couple of weeks.  Obviously I will not be posting during that time ;-).  I do appreciate your kind thoughts and prayers. In fact, they are quite palpable when I am engaged in Darkness. Subtle feelings and perceptions come to the fore as the material world is enclosed in Darkness.

I am leaving you with a jewel from last night's Temple Service on Unselfishness.  Both Den and I felt this was the most important nugget we gained.  Our egos are normally very attached to how they show up in the world, both the good and the bad.  You may have noticed (I certainly have) that one's focus on one's flaws and shortcomings can be particularly disconcerting.  Since much of our perception is "all about ME" the faults too can be incredibly magnified.

When one practices unselfishness, the focus is shifted away from the little self and onto service and consideration of others.  Removing the energy and placing it thus, our own bad habits and weaknesses begin to fade from lack of attention!  We become better people as we are absorbed in caring for others.

I do choose to caution that we should not do this in a co-dependent way (so common in our society).  We are not avoiding ourselves or projecting our own problems externally or onto others.  We are coming from a selfless yet responsible place of true altruism.  With a bit of soul-searching, I am confident we each will know the difference!  Unselfishness does not produce "ego balm"; it produces saints!!

I look forward to re-engaging after a much desired spiritual re-set in Darkness.   Ah, Darkness.  It definitely has the key to getting me back to what REALLY matters: my Divine Romance with the ONE!

Loving you always, k